Candido was the Latin percussionist of the 1950s, the first person that jazz people would call when they wanted a conga or bongo player. Early on, he had recorded in his native Cuba with Machito, and he worked regularly with the house band at the Tropicana Club in Havana for six years. Dizzy Gillespie heard him and encouraged him to move... [+] Read More

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Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two notable accomplishments to his credit -- applying acoustic classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. Born into a musical family, Byrd experienced his first brush with greatness while a... [+] Read More

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Jay Hoggard has had a wide-ranging career. One of the top vibraphonists to emerge during the 1970s, Hoggard originally started on piano and saxophone before switching to vibes. By the early '70s, he was working in New England with such top avant-garde players as Anthony Davis and Leo Smith. Hoggard moved to New York in 1977, where he played with... [+] Read More

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A talented if underrated vibraphonist, Khan Jamal took up the vibes in 1964 and worked early on with the Cosmic Forces and with Byard Lancaster. After further study, Jamal played with Sunny Murray in the late '70s and in the 1980s was with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society, the bands of Joe Bonner and Billy Bang and his own groups. He... [+] Read More

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Before Milt Jackson, there were only two major vibraphonists: Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo. Jackson soon surpassed both of them in significance and, despite the rise of other players (including Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton), still won the popularity polls throughout the decades. Jackson (or "Bags" as he was long called) was at the top of his... [+] Read More

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A fine middle-register trumpeter whose style seemed to practically define "cool jazz," Shorty Rogers was actually more significant for his arranging, both in jazz and in the movie studios. After gaining early experience with Will Bradley and Red Norvo and serving in the military, Rogers rose to fame as a member of Woody Herman's First and Second... [+] Read More

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Steve Nelson developed in the 1990s into one of the most promising of the vibraphonists around, influenced by Milt Jackson but gradually developing his own sound. After gigging with Grant Green in the early '70s, Nelson picked up important experience playing with Kenny Barron, James Spaulding, Bobby Watson, and David "Fathead" Newman, and has... [+] Read More

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Teddy Charles is a true rarity: a jazz musician who largely retired from the business. A skillful if not overly distinctive vibraphonist and (early in his career) quite capable on piano and drums, Charles was as important for his open-minded approach in the 1950s towards more advanced sounds as he was for his playing. He moved to New York to... [+] Read More

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By virtue of his warm, flamboyant stage manner, longevity, constant touring, and appearances in the mass media, Tito Puente is probably the most beloved symbol of Latin jazz. But more than that, Puente managed to keep his music remarkably fresh over the decades; as a timbales virtuoso, he combined mastery over every rhythmic nuance with... [+] Read More

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Walt Dickerson made an impact when he first emerged in the early '60s -- he won the Down Beat Critic's Poll as New Star in 1962 -- but as the years have passed, he's become much less visible. Dickerson graduated from Morgan State College in 1953. After serving in the Army from 1953-1955, he settled in California, where he led a band that... [+] Read More

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